THE Fall

It’s 4:07am and I can’t sleep. So here I am. =)

On a fateful night not too long ago, I had a major fall tripping over a wire during a jog. It was bad. It wasn’t like I had never fallen, but this was the most traumatising.

I actually cried. Through the 20 minutes I took to walk home.

I remember the entire episode of how I felt the resistance of a wire against my ankle, lunged forward and tried to support myself, but in vain, due to the overpowering gravitational pull.

I skidded flat on the rough road and sustained multiple superficial injuries on my arms, right thumb and palm, leg, lip and abdomen. I pulled myself up, still holding on to my iPhone, which cracked under the immense impact. 

(Now that I think of it, my phone actually acted like a wrist guard, shielding my right hand from further damage.)

Sand plastered itself onto the sticky plasma of my open wounds and I looked like a horrible mess.

It was about 10pm, I was alone and very frightened I must say.

~~~

I was  touched to have supportive friends who composed me down much. A friend actually bought plasters and antiseptic cream for me and it was already midnight. It was during this time when I realised the importance of having “social support”.

It was an awakening experience of me as a nursing student, to not take light of diseases I deem non-serious. It is so convenient to compare the “degree” of illnesses between patients, think “Nah… This is not as bad as that patient’s. It’s ok.” and fail to realise that each patient is an individual with his/her own set of challenges and concerns.

I believe there are many more aspects to address, than the mere physical condition. That is only the tip of an iceberg. Take my (lousy) example, even though it was a nasty fall, the bruises and abrasions were not unfamiliar for me, so my physical state was not my primary concern. However, to fall alone out at night and seeing the cracks on my relatively new phone, affected me psychologically (ok not the best way to phrase). And at that point of time, I needed to address that first and foremost.

Of course, mine is the trivial-est of matters.

Magnify that by a hundred for a HIV/cancer/_____ patient and  then perhaps I can see beyond what I have been previously blinded to.

~~~

Ok, it’s 5:37am and I’m supposed to have school rehearsal at 8am. Hope I do not fall asleep to my sad, slow, emo pieces.